East Bengal team manager claims verbal abuse by Bengaluru official

In a shocking revelation, a Bengaluru official was caught on tape abusing East Bengal players and the team manager Alvito D'Cunha after they wanted to practice ahead of schedule to avoid the scorching heat. The issue has provided added tension to the clash between title contenders BFC and EB.

"First the bus that was supposed to pick us up didn't arrive. I tried calling the local manager who didn't pick my call. So, I told the boys to walk to the ground from the hotel which we eventually did. And we reached the venue by 9 a.m.

"They would not let us start our practice then. An official of the club came to us and told me to 'f**k off'. He was the manager of the national team sometime back and he knew Arnab (Mondal). He told Arnab to stay away from the field and told (Bernard) Mendy to not step in the pitch. All of us were abused. Later a few other officials of the club came and they co-operated and we finally got going at 9:30,” Alvito D’Cunha, East Bengal's team manager, told Goal.com on Saturday.

However, an unnamed senior official of the Bengaluru-based club has shifted the blame on East Bengal insisting that they were informed about their practice schedule well in advance.

“We had mailed to East Bengal and the AIFF two days ago giving all the details. We cannot help if he (East Bengal official) doesn't see the mail. Moreover on Friday, East Bengal were supposed to practice at the Bangalore Football Stadium from 3 pm. But they conveniently landed up at 4.30 pm. We tried to be as accommodating as possible. But if someone comes and tells us about professionalism we have to show them their place,” an unnamed senior official of Bengaluru FC was quoted as saying by Goal.com.

When Alvito D'Cunha was asked why they decided to practice late, he replied, “I have been to so many venues but I have never faced these issues. When we landed on Friday, they gave us a practice session from 3 p.m. However, we reached the hotel and had lunch at 2:30 only. We later practiced in the evening”.

How disgusting can this guy (Srinivas) be! The guy who's abusing was once the Manager of the Indian National Team when Wim Koevermans was the coach.East Bengal was supposed to attend the practice session in 10 AM. Due to the scorching heat, a club official called up BFC management team, if they can shift the session to 9 AM. After agreeing verbally over phone, Mendy was the first one to reach the ground. As soon as, Mendy stepped onto field, Srinivas (a BFC staff) started abusing him. When other East Bengal players retaliated, Srinivas kept on using "F words", and filthy languages in Hindi. He was unwilling to stop and started shouting "Get out! Get out from this area!"He kept on asking Alvito: "Who the f*** are you beh****d?" Asking one of the best Indian footballer of the last decade such question, is itself a shame! EB players were made to wait 1 hour, even though the ground was empty, and finally given the chance to practice.Talk about "Athithi Devo Bhava"? Thank you Bangalore. We will remember.**AIFF officials -- will you act as a blind over this one too?**SHARE the video, let the AIFF watch this!#JolbeMoshal

I was a late bloomer. I was two years old when I said my first words. Foottt balll. Then mom corrected me that it's one word- FOOTBALL. I fell in love with it that very instant. Arsenal came next and then Wenger- he will be my eternal crush.....